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BOOK ill FnE <br />Chairman Macht then re -opened the public hearing <br />Donna B. Pepper, the developer, stated that Indian River County has supported <br />affordable housing previously. This project is finely designed and hand -tuned by staff. <br />Additional landscaping has been added to provide for additional buffering and the County <br />has not been asked for density bonuses. The project is designed for 30 units less than the <br />zoning allows. Affordable housing is always a "hot potato" but the State of Florida and a <br />lot of communities agree that the citizens of Florida deserve affordable housing in which to <br />live. 45% of the equity goes into the project before any bond monies are applied. The tax <br />credits are sold to large corporations who invest in the developer. <br />In response to a question from Commissioner Ginn, Ms. Pepper explained that the tax <br />laws of 1986 provide for credits to be used as equity in order to build affordable housing <br />pursuant to Section 42(d) of the Internal Revenue Code. Tax credits are competitively <br />obtained from the Internal Revenue Service and sold on a "present value" basis used over a <br />period of 10 years. She has been allowed a tax credit of $565,000 per year for 10 years to <br />be sold to raise money for the project before any bond money goes into it. She has also <br />invested $400,000 personally in the project and has a commitment from Sun American to <br />purchase the tax credits for 78¢ on the dollar. 4.3 million dollars will go into the project <br />before any bond money is used and the project has to stay in compliance a minimum of 15 <br />years. This project cannot be used for anything other than affordable housing and is <br />restricted as to rents and incomes. The records are reviewed each month by Florida Housing <br />Finance Corporation which assures that the project is in compliance. There is a 3' party <br />management company who keeps the project in compliance and any tax credits have to be <br />repaid if any project is out of compliance at any time over the 15 year period. <br />NOVEMBER 16, 1999 <br />-ca <br />